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This isn’t an extimony in the usual sense that you normally see here on this website. I have been a lurker here for a few months now. I have read many of the extimonies written by former Christians. With out a doubt I believe these folks are very sincere in there contributions here. As you can read from their posts you can see how sincerely they sought out the God of the Bible and failed to find this very elusive being.

Of course we have a very diverse community of people who come to this website. I suppose most folks have become agnostics or atheists since their deconversion from Christianity. But we do have a sprinkling of pagan, wiccan, or similar types of beliefs. Nothing wrong with that either. Personally I don’t put any more credence to their claims that I would the Christian claims.

But if a Non-Christian belief system works for you I will not argue with your results. Non-Christians seem to be much less annoying in that I haven’t been pestered by any to convert to their particular belief system. Plus they seem to be much happier in general.

I am not particularly religious myself. I have held a number of spiritual views over the years. My parents were not very steady church goers. Occasionally we went to a Baptist church about a mile or so up the road. It didn’t make much of a believer out of me at the time. I had more fun reading science books and learning as much as I could about things at the time.

When I got of high school I flirted for awhile with some New Age ideas such as astrology, oujia boards, automatic writing and so forth. I was rather disappointed by the results. Then I came across an ad in Fate Magazine for a Rosicrucian Society. I joined that for awhile. This proved to be a little more interesting. I guess I stayed a member for a couple of years or so.

Then I got caught up into a popular Bible Cult of the 1970’s. No it wasn’t the Moonies. It was something called The Way. Fortunately, I got invited to leave their cult because I kept asking too many questions.

After that I studied ceremonial magick and dabbled in the teachings of The Golden Dawn. The results were rather mixed but the material is fascinating to study.

Lately I have discovered the works of Ayn Rand and her wonderful philosophy called Objectivism. Never have I discovered a more practical philosophy. I wish I had encountered it years ago.

Occasionally some Christian troll comes here and spews forth their propaganda. What I have enjoyed the most though is all of the wonderful comments their drive by posts generate. It is great to see many folks who have woke up to the hoaxes of religion.

One of the problems with religious teachings are they are very seductive. What do I mean by this comment? Religious teachings hold out the promise of wisdom. Who wouldn’t want that? If you are experiencing major problems in your life religious teachings become even more enticing.

You go in expecting to gain something extremely important and mysterious. People just love to solve a mystery. Most folks who decide to follow a spiritual path do so because they are seeking honesty, enlightenment, truths, or a desire to give their live some kind of meaning. They are seeking an ideal way to live an deal with others.

Unfortunately they will find none of these things. More often it will be years later before they will realize that the wisdom that they sought was in reality nothing but a hoax. The true enlightenment comes when you realize that religious teachings are totally false. It makes me wonder how many ministers and pastors are “closet atheists?”

In a future post I will offer some possible origins for why people seek out spiritual paths.

ColumbiaMissouriUSAHow old were you when you became a christian? 20How old were you when you ceased being a christian? 22What labels, if any, would you apply to yourself now? FreeThinker SkepticWhy did you become a christian? Because of the false guilt and the threat of hell.Why did you de-convert? Many reasons! Further research into the origins of the Bible and Christianity itself raised doubts. Plus really reading the Bible was an eye opener!email: harcortm at yahoo dot com